Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. (SIX: BSLN)
today announced that Joachim Blatter has been appointed Chief Financial
Officer
(CFO) of Basilea Pharmaceutica International Ltd.

Joachim Blatter will join Basilea mid-January 2012 as Chief Financial
Officer
and member of the management committee. In addition to finance he will be
responsible for information technology and internal services reporting to
Chief
Operating Officer Ronald Scott, who has been acting as ad interim CFO.

Joachim Blatter, a German citizen, has held various senior finance
positions,
most recently as CFO of Swissmetal Industries Ltd. in Dornach, Switzerland.
Mr.
Blatter was previously CFO of Alcan Singen GmbH and Managing Director of
Alcan
Holdings Germany GmbH. He holds a degree in business administration from
the
University of Cologne, Germany, and is a certified management accountant as
well
as a certified financial manager.

Dr. Anthony Man, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are very pleased
to
welcome Joachim Blatter to Basilea's executive management team as Chief
Financial Officer. He has over 20 years of international experience in
financial
and operational management. In his new position, he will be able to build
on
Basilea's strong financial foundation with a continued focus on prudent
financial management."

About Basilea

Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, and
listed on
the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX: BSLN). Basilea Pharmaceutica International
Ltd.'s
fully integrated research and development operations are focused on
antibiotics,
antifungals and oncology drugs, as well as on the development of
dermatology
drugs, targeting the medical challenge of resistance and non-response to
current
treatment options in the hospital and specialty care setting.

Basilea is currently marketing Toctino® (alitretinoin), the only
approved
treatment for adults with severe chronic hand eczema unresponsive to potent
topical corticosteroids, in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway,
Switzerland and the United Kingdom and has appointed distributors for
Toctino®
in other selected European markets, Canada, Israel, Mexico and the Republic
of
Korea. A phase III clinical program on alitretinoin for the treatment of
severe
chronic hand eczema is ongoing in the U.S.

For its phase III compound isavuconazole, a potential best-in-class azole
antifungal for the treatment of life-threatening invasive fungal
infections, the
company has entered into a license, co-development and co-promotion
agreement
with Astellas Pharma Inc.

In addition, Basilea is developing ceftobiprole, a late-stage novel anti-
MRSA
(methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) broad-spectrum cephalosporin
antibiotic, for the first-line treatment of potentially life-threatening
resistant bacterial infections. Ceftobiprole has a broad coverage of both
Gram-
positive bacteria, including MRSA, and many clinically important Gram-
negative
bacteria such as Pseudomonas spp.

Basilea's BAL30072, a novel antibiotic for the treatment of resistant Gram-
negative infections, and the oncology drug BAL101553 for the treatment of
drug-
resistant cancers are in phase I clinical testing.

Disclaimer

This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking
statements concerning Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. and its business. Such
statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition,
performance
or achievements of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. to be materially different
from
any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by
such
forward-looking statements. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is providing this
communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-
looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.